Budget 2026: what it means for you and your business —

Finance Outsourcing & Automation

Credit Control

In short

Profit is an opinion; cash is a fact. We chase your debtors on your behalf — automated reminders escalating to personal contact — protecting your cash position without you having to have an awkward conversation with a customer you want to keep. Most businesses are financed, unwittingly and interest-free, by their own unpaid invoices.

Almost every owner-managed business is uncomfortable chasing money. The customer is a relationship, the invoice feels like an accusation, and so it drifts. Meanwhile the business borrows to cover the gap — paying interest to fund someone else's working capital. An outsourced credit controller has no such discomfort, because it isn't their relationship.

How does outsourced credit control work?

Automated reminders before and after the due date — polite, consistent, and impossible to take personally. Escalation at defined intervals, from email to letter to telephone. Personal contact where it’s needed, made by us in your name and to your standard. Reporting — you see exactly who has been contacted, when, and what they said. Escalation back to you before anything reaches a point that could damage the relationship. You always decide when a matter goes further.

Why does it work better when someone else does it?

Three reasons.

Consistency. An owner chases when they remember and when they have time — which is neither reliably nor early. Automation chases every invoice, every time.

Detachment. We are not the person who will be sitting opposite your customer next month. That makes the conversation easier for everyone, including them.

Persistence. Most late payers pay whoever chases hardest. That is an uncomfortable truth about commercial life, and it is why the businesses with the best debtor days are rarely the ones with the best customers.

What else affects my debtor days?

Chasing is the last resort, not the first. Before that:

Invoice immediately — every day between delivery and invoicing is a day of free credit. Make payment easy — pay-now links, direct debit, card payment. Set terms and mean them. Terms that are never enforced are not terms. Credit-check new customers before you extend credit, not after. Take deposits where the job warrants it.

We review the whole cycle, not just the chasing.

Why LMJ Group

We chase; you keep the relationship — the detachment is the point.

Automated and consistent — every invoice, every time, not just when someone remembers.

In your name, to your standard — professional, never aggressive.

You stay in control — nothing escalates beyond your comfort without your say-so.

We fix the whole cycle — invoicing, terms and payment methods, not just the chasing.

Related services

Personal Tax & Self Assessment

Corporation Tax Planning

VAT & Making Tax Digital

Capital Gains Tax Planning

Frequently asked questions

Won't chasing invoices damage my customer relationships?

Done properly, no — and in practice the opposite is true. Inconsistent chasing followed by an eventual angry phone call damages relationships. Consistent, polite, automated reminders from a third party are simply business as usual, and most customers barely register them.

What are good debtor days?

It varies by sector, but if your terms are 30 days and your actual debtor days are 60 or more, you're financing your customers' working capital out of your own. Halving that gap frees up real cash — often more than any cost saving you could make elsewhere.

Do you take legal action against non-payers?

We don't, but we'll tell you clearly when a debt has reached that point and escalate it back to you with the full contact history. Nothing goes further without your explicit decision — you always keep control of what happens to a customer relationship.

Can you help before it gets to chasing?

Yes, and that's usually where the biggest gains are. Invoicing promptly, making payment easy, credit-checking new customers, taking deposits and actually enforcing your terms all reduce the amount of chasing needed. We review the whole cycle, not just the collections end.

Book a free 30-minute discovery call

Luton · Kettering · Leicester · Guernsey · Welwyn Garden City

Last reviewed: Sep, 2026

This page provides general information about the 2026/27 UK tax year and is not advice on your particular circumstances. Tax and regulatory rules change frequently. Please contact us before acting, or refraining from acting, on anything set out here. LMJ Group is a firm of Chartered Accountants regulated by the ICAEW. LMJ Group is not a registered auditor and does not provide audit services. Last reviewed: July 2026.